input about time management with groups, blog, real life

synonym for light asked: I'd like some input about time management with groups, blog, real life and etc….   :-) 


I would like other's input on this issue. I know it will help learning about more efficient ways helping with groups.  Your thoughts and ideas about this subject… new to this or not, is important to share to sparkle up on keeping current with groups and blogs. Thanks ~k

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

“one must have no pre-concieved notions of what should or should not be” with all things? 

I'm incredulous about that.  I work for 911, take emergency calls and send out ambulances, fire trucks & police units to help people with their emergencies and non-emegencies, for a a living.  Although I agree that we should be relaxed and flexible, I don't agree that one MUST have NO preconcieved notions of how things should or should not be. 

I agree that being rigid about “shoulds” or “shouldn'ts” can be detrimental, but as humans with unlimited choices available to us it is completely natural and healthy for us to make value choices.  For instance, if a person calls 911 asking for an ambulance for a loved one who has been injured, I SHOULD send and ambulance immediately.  I SHOULD gather valuable information from the caller about the status and exact location of the patient.  I SHOULD stay calm and compassionate in order to help the caller and the patient deal with the crisis situation that they are facing.  Because I choose to work here, I SHOULD do these things. 

Whether I SHOULD work here or not is something else entirely.  But since I have chosen to accept this job, there are now certain things that I should do, don't you agree?  And if I find that I am incapable of doing these things I SHOULD resign or get more training to learn how to do them.

Another example:  because my husband and I chose to make a commitment to one another to love and support one another for the rest of our lives, we both SHOULD honor that commitment and one another.  Whether we SHOULD have married one another or not - another story. 

A bus driver SHOULD do his or her utmost to ensure the safety of his or her passengers.  A police officer SHOULD NOT abuse his or her power.  A parent SHOULD NOT abuse his or her children.  Someone who doesn't like children SHOULD NOT choose to work in a day care center. 

In my humble, or not so humble, opinion these are valuable pre-concieved notions or what should or should not be. 

Living in this world for the short amount of time that I have done thus far, I have observed that people disagree about what should and should not be on so many levels but we, almost all of the nearly 7 billion of us who inhabit this earth, agree on some basic shoulds and shouldn'ts.  There are times when, despite our best efforts, we cannot live up to the shoulds and there are those who simply choose to disregard them, but I think many shoulds are still valuable and to make them feel less onerous, I think of them as joyful choices:  I choose to be the best wife I can be.  I choose to do my absolute best at work.  I choose to educate myself and I choose to obey the traffic laws.  I choose the shoulds in my life by virtue of my choices, big and small. 

And therin lies the problem.  In choosing to be a part of a community, online or off, I feel that I take on certain shoulds.  If I choose to join a group, should I not then be a contributing member? 

I value my online friends as much as offline ones, but it's much harder to do activities with friends across the continent or world like going for a walk or hike or bike ride or gardening together. 

I remember a time when I didn't use a computer at all, at work or at home.  My son was about 3 years old and we didn't have a television either.  I don't remember feeling so conflicted about my time choices way back then.  Of course, life was simpler in other ways too.  I was younger and had made fewer commitments and had complicated my life in fewer ways.  I belonged to fewer groups, online and off and didn't feel as much responsibility for the large world outside of my home and work. 

I do think that there is a difference between online and offline time, just as there is a difference between being inside or outside of a building.  I don't think that one is better than the other - the quality of interactions depends more on those doing the interacting than the mode of communication, doesn't it?  But the mode of communication does indeed affect the quality.  I can't hug a person online.  I can't touch them physically.  You can't see my facial expression right now or my body language.  You don't know if my eyes are sparkling with playfulness or mischief or if I am stone faced serious, do you?  In order to communicate online, though a keyboard, I must understand the nuances of the written word, much more than if we were simply sitting in a room together in which case I could perhaps express my opinion with just a look, a raised eyebrow, a smile, a sideward glance, a shrug or a hmmm and a chuckle. 

“we need not get caught up in this tired and out-dated notion that there is something wrong with our relationship to the online world and the people we hold relationships with there.”

I absolutely agree – I certainly don't think that there is anything wrong with my relationship to the online world and I certainly value many of the relationships I have online.  My request for input is based on finding balance, just as in the rest of life. 

One of the things about the online world is that many people can ask for ones attention and / or  help in a way that is much easier than doing so in the offline world.  For instance:  if my computerless friend needs something from me and 10 other friends, she has to either dial each of our numbers individually or physically come and ask us for our help.  It will require a certain amount of her own time and effort to ask each of us for our time or input, whereas, online, whe can spend a small amount of time contacting all of us.

I find it much more challenging to balance and prioritize online commitments and friendships than I do offline ones.  I get emails from gaia, facebook, myspace, flickr and twitter, notifying me of conversations and activities.  I get emails from:

union of concerned scientists
doctors without borders
true majority
moveon
planned parenthood
wilderness workshop
roaring fork outdoor volunteers
sierra club
yoga journal
countless political organizations

asking for action or time or most likely, money

I get all bills and credit offers and sales offers via email and snail mail. 


and in the “real world” I work 40 hours + at 911, teach yoga part time, try to be a fabulous wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend, train for a bike race this fall, do yoga, meditate, garden, try to keep a house fairly tidy, read, write, make photographs and something I pretend is art, volunteer, etc.   and now I want to go back to school part time. 

I am curious how others balance their activities on and offline, how others maintain simplicity in the face of so many wonderful choices and so many potential activities. 

I, obviously, am a person who doesn't mind being busy, having a full life is how I like to think of it, but lately it seems I'm doing a lot of apologizing for long delays in keeping up with online conversations, since logging in to the computer has not been at the top of my priority list. 

and since it has been low on my list of priorities, I often think I ought to decline invitations to join yet more groups on gaia or elsewhere, since I don't think that I can give much time to them. 

so here I've spent about an hour composing my thoughts on this and I don't know when I'll be back to see who responds or to contribute further to the conversation.  but just the same, I'll pose the questions another way…..

what ways have others found to be effective for balancing and prioritizing online life with a busy offline life?  what's your online organizational system, where are the efficiencies that I might have overlooked thus far? 

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

what ways have others found to be effective for balancing and prioritizing online life with a busy offline life?  what's your online organizational system, where are the efficiencies that I might have overlooked thus far?

Honestly, I haven't, and so my online presence and offline involvement skitters wildly from week to week and month to month. Some times nothing seems more appealing than casting my neurons like some fabulous net into a related web of online connectedness, and meshing and dreaming and chasing and creating with other people from all over the world. Other times the sun outside calls. I just try to pay attention.

That said, I do know I'm generally happier when I create some structure for myself. Treating my body to the time in nature it needs, and my mind to the intellectual excursions that keep it happy, and my heart to everything, is easiest when I'm conscious about it. And oftentimes, paradoxically, I can give more when I limit my time (that is, if I reserve emails for a certain period of the day, and save certain Group contributions or responses for another).

This is an excellent question, though, if in part because my favorite ones are those that have different answers for different people.

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

“I just try to pay attention.”   me too.  and sometimes I find that I am trying to pay attention to WAY too many things at once.  that's a good time for yoga or meditation or a walk in the park, eh?  :-)

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

oh.  I listened to this yesterday and I think it applies to this conversation. 

The Economics of Happiness….

just click play right at the top to hear the author, Helena Norberg-Hodge giving a talk on the subject. 

I can't wait to read her other book, Ancient Futures, as well! 

and I just found out about this film of the same title.  I hope to see it soon!  has anyone else here seen the film or read the book or heard Helena speak? 

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

You ask some really great questions, Dawn, and I have a feeling that talk I haven't heard yet is very worthwhile.

We all have to find what makes sense for us, online or offline. And we have to keep re-evaluating that.

It sounds to me like you have a very full and satisfying life that also includes enjoying your time online when schedule permits. That's great. 

Do you need to limit the number of groups you're in? If it makes you feel more comfortable, why not? But it's also possible that the groups you are in are glad to have you pop in when you have a minute rather than not being there at all. It depends on how we see the groups, as mods or members. 

One thing is certain - we will please some people with our decisions and displease others. So one might as well do what makes most sense to oneself at any given time, eh?

Follow your heart,

Nicole

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

good advice, nicole.  I agree about following your heart.  :-)

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Oh, goodness. Thank you; I hadn't heard that lecture.

(And I've added the video to our Earth Cinema Circle Group here, if you want to watch it now.)

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

thanks siona.  I cancelled my netflix for the summer because I want to spend more time outside in the garden and on the bicycle, but I couldn't resist joining the cinema circle just now.  every other month seems manageable time and money wise.  ;-)

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Thanks for all and for your spirit of play, Dawn. This has been such a pleasure to take the time out to look at all of the films in Earth Cinema Circle Group where I watched all three. 

Art is art when it gets to be in a two way communication, and all of her art is work sharing.  This gets the message out broadly not having to go through corporate or political means possibly only benefiting a few with her viewpoint.

Next, I listened to the lecture by Helena Norberg-Hodge recommended: The Economics of Happiness…. I was interested in what is being done for schools and found a good write up for teachers as a guide to putting this into studies.  It's interesting in her podCast that the big pharma is attempting to muddy up that area too.  Thank God there are people like us on Gaia to cleanly recommend applying her tech and seeing the pure easy way of understanding economy at the foundation.  I found Helena's website for the dvd & some of her books.

It has been a pleasure meeting you synonym for light through this thread and I plan to cross-post this in the groups that i cultivate to enlighten others on Gaia that may miss this thread. It's my belief that if all on Gaia had this chance to read the links and see the video that it is so vital in furthering good changes. 

There are elements in all that you bring that are vital to any group as this encompasses our survival. It's awesome that you work with 911 activities… so commendable.  

As for time management, I use the “Do It Now” policy by having an in, out and pending basket system to handle “traffic”when something is in front of me, and removed developed traffic that interferes both online and offline. This buys a lot of leisure time to produce offline products & services.  I have some things pending but put them on a schedule and target out things to meet other's timetable.  If i get overwhelmed I always bring in another person to help even if it is just laundry and it instantly works to put things back on a track that is workable for the individual.

Thanks for starting this most important topic.  I look forward to reading more of your other things. 

This has been a very valuable thread that I will refer others to as well.  When we continue with our dynamic thrusts in living life, doing what we want there is such richness that follows.  it's great to be active on and off line – on where others can see the effects created and spread the joy. Thanks for the shared time today, ~K

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

wow.  I love this…

” If i get overwhelmed I always bring in another person to help even if it is just laundry and it instantly works to put things back on a track that is workable for the individual.”

even though it's almost the opposite of what I usually do, which is spend some time alone so that I can figure out what's really important to me and check in with whether I've been living my values. 

I think I may indeed solicit some help with a few things. it's definitely something I could work on, to get me out of my box.  I never think of asking for help with chores I just think of disciplining myself into getting them done and more lately I have been asking myself if it isn't possible to enjoy the things I'd rather not do and usually, probably always actually, it is possible to enjoy them.  dishes and housecleaning anyway.  :-)

off to enjoy those things some more now.  and laundry – oooiee. this will be fun.  haha. 

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Just want to add some other reflections to this thread. The question is not so much about choices, but about what do we want. I think we have real time and we have personal time. Real time is the one managed at offices, timesheduling, railway transportation; it is the clock. 

Personal time is the relational time..and to me there is no difference between real relations and virtual relations: I have them and cultivate them because they are both part of my personal time. When I'm on Gaia, I'm dealing with relations too. A friend of mine inspired me recently when I said I'm really offended by the tips given by councelors in so called time management. They just train you as if you are a puppy. They do not talk about the “personal value” of your life time. Office time is treated as if it not even your time.

The friend I mentioned sent me this quote: “I never waste any minute of my time, I just used it for unforseen valuable circumstances.”

It is up to us to validate the value of those circumstances, and the good feeling we get out of it. I agree there are should and should-not's, when we have chosen what to do with “our” time, but no one has the right to question me about or to make use of MY time, unless I agree in the win-win for both of us. I'm a partner in this, not a subject. And I assure you, I'm very wellwilling and caring.

This attitude is the only way to not start feeling guilty about not having more time. And when it is too much, well it just is. I agree with Nicole: just follow your heart, and don't forget: you have only one!
michel

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

I'd like to flip the labels for real time and personal time.  I'd like “real” to be the definition of personal time – authentically experienced time.  and I'd like the clock time to be called just that - clock or calendar or scheduled time.  ;-)

I like this…  “I never waste any minute of my time, I just used it for unforseen valuable circumstances”

and I think, for me, it is valuable when I am feeling rushed or unfulfilled now and then to investigate why I am feeling so and check if I have been “spending” my time in ways that feel valuable, rewarding.

My blog post today was the result of meditation on time and choices and lack or abundance. 

later today I will teach a yoga class – it's scheduled time, something I agreed to do quite some time ago and I'm resisting the idea because I would like to spend the rest of the day puttering around at home, the first opportunity I have allowed myself to do so in some time.  but I agreed to do this, to help the studio owners, along time ago and I will put away my resistance to spending another 3 hours away from home and do my utmost to give the students a great class.  and I suspect I'll be glad I did afterward.  but encountering all this resistance about leaving home today has me realizing that I need to give myself more unscheduled time than I have been doing lately.  and so I will be sure to schedule less obligations in the future and leave more time free for discovering what delights me.  ;-) 

I'm housecleaning and rearranging at the moment and deeply enjoying it, so I'll not post more at the moment. 

following my heart….   :-)

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Following your heart is always the best choice.
This is the final cut.

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Lars,

That was fascinating.  It is a whole new world of us.

Thanks -
Deb

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

So, yeah, this thread blew my mind… in a good way!  This is all stuff I've been thinking a lot about lately - balance both in an online/offline way, and in life in general. 

Tharlam, I'm laughing at the concept of the “tired and out-dated notion” of online vs. offline - I've been wrestling with that balance for as long as I've been a member of this community, for as long as I've been online even - but in the overall scheme of things, it's just not… that… long.  I hate to think I'm a cliché already!  It sounds like you have a nice balance worked out for yourself, but for me, it is a challenge, and I do tend to get sucked into time online in a way in which I don't with other activities - I find myself too much up in my head in general, which most online activities seem to reinforce.

I am coming to think that time spent online is fundamentally different to “real life” - NOT that it's not ALL real life, truly, but my corporeal self definitely feels the difference.  I mean, come on, don't others' butts get tired?  Am I the only one who finds it torturous to crouch over a keyboard for hours on end?  I am hopeful that emerging user interfaces (such as the amazing touchscreen interface debuted at TED a few years back) will ease the physical aspects of online communications, but until then, it's relatively arduous to spend large amounts of time plugged in - for me anyway. 

Siona, everything you said was right on, pitch-perfect for the way I experience my time online, too.  ”Some times nothing seems more appealing than casting my neurons like some fabulous net into a related web of online connectedness, and meshing and dreaming and chasing and creating with other people from all over the world. Other times the sun outside calls. I just try to pay attention.” - beautiful!  Yes!!!

I have a tendency to show up in fits and starts, in a feast or famine way that seems to be exaggerated here.  And I have also found that a bit of structure is key to staying balanced and clear.  I need my time away, and I need to set limits to how much of my life I spend hacking away at a keyboard (true for all of life, not incidentally!).  The better I can do that, the more fresh I come back, the more ideas I have to share, the better quality of my experience overall.

Dawn, your amazing images and thoughtful words here are such a great example of that.  The beautiful photos you have made are a treasure and add so much value to this thread of endless word-things.  The thing that being online has taught me, maybe more than any other area of life, is: experiences don't come cheaply.  You have to be present for them.  Life is always happening all around, but you have to step into that stream with your awareness, unique vision, and maybe a notepad and digital camera in hand.  Constantly being plugged in I find to be anathema to creativity.  You need the pause for reflection.  Any monkey can comment endlessly and pontificate and opinionify until the cows come home (me, right here, right now). 

But I believe that truly valuable “content” (dislike that word, seems so emptily antichrist/commercial) - whether it be art, blogs, photos, and whatnot - requires a certain amount of time away from constantly being “on.”  Sometimes being online with like-minded folk provides that pause and that shelter out of the hurry-scurry hustle-bustle of ordinary daily life - and conversely, other times daily life - planting a garden, doing the dishes, basking in the sun, taking a walk - is exactly what is needed to provide the shelter for renewed communication and creativity.  Again, the balance, breathing in and breathing out.  Ahhhhhh….

Practically, I think it's about giving yourself permission to have your own experience, and spending less time rationalising, explaining, or trying to play catch-up.  NO GUILT - it just sucks your energy!  I also think that subscribing to group notifications and friends' activities is invaluable, to keep a finger on the pulse of things, even if I don't have time to contribute myself.

Personally, I get a little weirded out when people are like “OMG, where have you been?!” - when I've just been a few days or weeks away.  I think “OMG, where have you been?  Sometimes I spend months away - and that seems to be my rhythm here.”  The thing about “content” is, there's just so much of it!  I accept that I will never catch up, and try to always stay open to the serendipitous happenstances that seem to always be arriving to present just what you need right on time (and sometimes I delight, as I know you do, Dawn, in reviving old threads and blogs for the delight of it, and to remind us it's not all about now-now-NOW, there was some good stuff worth revisiting from months or years ago). 

That being said, now that I'm heavily involved in Quotes (where have I been? that's where I've been!) and starting up the new Green on Gaia group, I do feel a certain responsibility to contribute more regularly.  But there's a balance with others, too - a communal balance - and some seem better at achieving this than others.  Time zones, size of friends networks, number of group subscriptions, regularity of log ins, and a zillion other factors (that “real life” thing again that everyone seems to need to tend to sooner or later) contribute to that group balance, and once person can't create it on his/her own.  Like I mentioned in my intro, sometimes I get sick of seeing my mug taking up all recent slots on recent group activity tab - but that's how I tend to post - all at once, focused, without a lot of jumping around.  I am SO grateful to the folks on the (still small but very active) Quotes group for keeping up with me, because so often it seems that if the rhythm is off, a group won't fly. There's that chemistry you just can't control.  It's a beautiful thing when it works, frustrating and tiring when it doesn't - just like the online/offline balance.

echo, I love “I never waste any minute of my time, I just used it for unforeseen valuable circumstances.” - So true!  Time really cannot be wasted, which we so often forget in a world of timeclocks and those treating our time as their commodity.  What would that be - the second law of temporo-dynamics?

lars, very interesting video on the machine is us, especially the end bit about rethinking… ownership, identity, ethics, et al.  I do think we are teaching the machine, feeding the machine, becoming the machine.  Whether quality data can be extruded from a flat system has yet to be determined, but it sure is a fascinating experiment in the democracy of thought.  I thought it interesting about typing replacing selection being really the most revolutionary tool used to present the ideas therein, despite all the pimping of xml, the www, and tagging.  The machine is using us.  Indeed!  Let's grow wiser wisely…

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Tsuya, you are not the only one who experiences a tired butt.
Check this little post out, maybe there's hope for us.
They have some nifty little interfaces for us in the near future. Thanks for all the work you do in the Quotes.

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

Lars, so glad to hear I'm not the only one!  Tooling through quotes, I came across: “FREE your MIND your ASS will FOLLOW” ~ George Clinton – but yeah, no, I haven't found that to be the case.  I free my mind online, and I stop feeling my ass as it disappears into the chair.

That's really fascinating about the brain computer interface.  I've read some plausible science fiction about such human-to-human interfaces (interfasci?) - a veritable tete-a-tete - b2b is SO yesterday.  Me, I'm just happy with my pen scanner, and hope someday for a reasonable voice recognition package - I'm a tidge skeptical about jumping to brain interface when we haven't even mastered OCR.  So cool to see what's out there, though.  But then again, what about the physical ramifications of having a wireless device wrapped around one's noggin?

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

wow.  thanks.  :-)

Re: input about time management with groups, blog, real life

input about time management with groups, blog, real life - brief
I posted this in my group and they gave even more amazing tips along with these over at Now I Can See The Moon :  Carl I think it's important in life to knock out some of the smaller things that we have on our list so that we have more freedom and room to take on the larger ones.  It's important to see that everything is important on your schedule, including relaxing and putting things down for a while.  Sometimes walking away and acknowledging that maybe this is something that you can't do right now is the best course of action.


nion Yes Carl, I agree. Time Management is actually not about managing time. Time manages itself. It's about managing your needs. The challenge for the mods is, how to manage the needs of the many. Will come back to you with ideas on that. Did I understand the question right?

Tai balancing our lives
accepting all that we do
a moment in time. 


~KES  “As for time management, I use the “Do It Now” policy by having an in, out and pending basket system to handle “traffic”when something is in front of me, and removed developed traffic that interferes both online and offline.”All of this is genius and we are so grateful for your answers.This has been briefed down for all Mods to copy paste this part and put into your groups on time management. We are looking for more input from more of you.


Silent Temple Time is a cultural thing.


Tharlam I personally play it by ear.  Somedays I work then,somedays I do not.  I work on my group at times when I feel I am in the right frame or mindset to provide something useful, and having the time in my day-to-day life to do so, I log on and post / shift / edit whatever needs attending to. 

With all things, one must be relaxed and have no pre-concieved notions of what should or should not be.”

synonym for light “I do think that there is a difference between online and offline time, just as there is a difference between being inside or outside of a building.  I don't think that one is better than the other - the quality of interactions depends more on those doing the interacting than the mode of communication, doesn't it?  But the mode of communication does indeed affect the quality.  I can't hug a person online.  I can't touch them physically.  You can't see my facial expression right now or my body language.  You don't know if my eyes are sparkling with playfulness or mischief or if I am stone faced serious, do you?  


In order to communicate online, though a keyboard, I must understand the nuances of the written word, much more than if we were simply sitting in a room together in which case I could perhaps express my opinion with just a look, a raised eyebrow, a smile, a sideward glance, a shrug or a hmmm and a chuckle.” My blog post today was the result of meditation on time and choices and lack or abundance.”

Siona ”…so my online presence and offline involvement skitters wildly from week to week and month to month. Some times nothing seems more appealing than casting my neurons like some fabulous net into a related web of online connectedness, and meshing and dreaming and chasing and creating with other people from all over the world. Other times the sun outside calls. I just try to pay attention.   That said, I do know I'm generally happier when I create some structure for myself. Treating my body to the time in nature it needs, and my mind to the intellectual excursions that keep it happy, and my heart to everything, is easiest when I'm conscious about it. And oftentimes, paradoxically, I can give more when I limit my time (that is, if I reserve emails for a certain period of the day, and save certain Group contributions or responses for another).”


Nicole “We all have to find what makes sense for us, online or offline. And we have to keep re-evaluating that.”

echo  Great words echo!!… briefed I see”…“personal value” of your life time. The friend I mentioned sent me this quote: “I never waste any minute of my time, I just used it for unforseen valuable circumstances.” “It is up to us to validate the value of those circumstances, and the good feeling we get out of it. I agree there are should and should-not's, when we have chosen what to do with “our” time, but no one has the right to question me about or to make use of MY time, unless I agree in the win-win for both of us.”


FastDart “Following your heart is always the best choice.” Machine us/ing  … Check this little post out, maybe there's hope for us. They have some nifty little interfaces for us in the near future.  debyemm “It's a whole new world of us.” & Tsuya  “So, yeah, this thread blew my mind… in a good way!  This is all stuff I've been thinking a lot about lately - balance both in an online/offline way, and in life in general.  …it's relatively arduous to spend large amounts of time plugged in. … I have also found that a bit of structure is key to staying balanced and clear. I need my time away, and I need to set limits to how much of my life I spend hacking away at a keyboard.  The better I can do that, the more fresh I come back, the more ideas I have to share, the better quality of my experience overall. …The thing about “content” is, there's just so much of it!  I accept that I will never catch up, and try to always stay open to the serendipitous happenstances that seem to always be arriving to present just what you need right on time (and sometimes I delight, in reviving old threads and blogs for the delight of it, and to remind us it's not all about now-now-NOW). …there's a balance with others, too - a communal balance - and some seem better at achieving this than others.  Time zones, size of friends networks, number of group subscriptions, regularity of log ins, and a zillion other factors (that “real life” thing again that everyone seems to need to tend to sooner or later) contribute to that group balance, and once person can't create it on his/her own. …Time really cannot be wasted, which we so often forget in a world of timeclocks and those treating our time as their commodity.  What would that be - the second law of temporo-dynamics?” 

...on balance:  A thousand days.  A minute.  A flash.  Just like life I think.  I hear her whisper: Take my hand and grow young with me; don't rush, don't sleep; be a beginner; weave pearls in your hair; grow potatoes; light the candles; keep the fire; dare to love someone; tell yourself the truth; stay inside the rapture. Marlena de Blasi a Thousand days in Venice